Lansing native and lifelong NASCAR fan Mark Wilson gets his final resting place as his ashes were scattered at Michigan International Speedway, his home state racetrack where friends and family members raced.
Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State Journal

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"This is where he would've wanted to be, his favorite place in the world was the racetrack," Kim Fedewa-Eaton said Wednesday, June 14, 2017, holding an empty urn that the day before held the ashes of her late ex-husband Mark Wilson. Wilson, a life-long NASCAR fan and former pit crew member died last January from COPD. Fedewa-Wilson and her husband Jeff sprinkled some of Wilson's ashes underneath the frontstretch scoring pylon Tuesday, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. They sprinkled the rest at the checkered MIS start-finish line, Wilson's "home-away-from-home."(Photo: MATTHEW DAE SMITH/Lansing State Journal)Buy Photo

BROOKLYN — Roughly 71,000 spectators will cram into Michigan International Speedway Sunday afternoon for the annual June NASCAR race in Brooklyn.

The best seat in the house will belong to Mark Wilson.

When Wilson wasn’t jumping over concrete barriers in the North Carolina heat, filling race cars with gas on a NASCAR pit crew, he swung a hammer, building houses and remodeling. Bud Light was always close by – so were his friends.

Arguably his closest pal, Brandy, a chocolate lab, was named after his second favorite drink. She even knew when to go to the cooler and fetch him a fresh beer.

Wilson was selfless and full of life, which he proved by paying the tab at his own wake, just before he died of complications from the lung disease COPD in January. He wanted his friends and family to have a good time – on him.

His obituary said he liked to fish, hunt and travel, but nothing compared to his love of racing. The Lansing native and Harrison resident loved MIS and the Irish Hills. It was like a home away from home for two weeks every race season.

Now, a part of him will be here forever.

Kim and Jeff Eaton brought some of Wilson’s ashes to his home-state track Tuesday afternoon, sprinkling a little under the towering black leaderboard in the infield and the rest at the checkered start-finish line of the two-mile speedway in Brooklyn.

“This is where he would’ve wanted to be,” said Kim Eaton, his ex-wife. They were married for nine years.“His favorite place in the world to be was at the race track.”

Wilson’s son, Marky Wilson, was shocked when he heard about Kim Eaton’s plans. But he wholeheartedly agrees, this is where his dad would want to be.

“It was wonderful,” Marky Wilson said over the phone Wednesday. “She came over to the house and told me. I gladly said yes. That was one of his favorite things.”

Kim Eaton, whose maiden name is Fedewa, comes from a family of racing royalty around these parts.

Her grandpa Willy Fedewa was a driver. Her father Butch held track records in Kalamazoo and won every race of the year during one season in the 1980s. He was so dominant, officials made him start at the back of the pack. For good measure, they even made him begin a lap down on the rest of the field.

Her brother, Timmy Fedewa, was a NASCAR driver and is now the spotter for Kevin Harvick’s pit crew. During his racing career, he finished second in the Rookie of the Year standings in the Busch Series (1993) and won three races. He even made a spot start for John Andretti in 2000 at the Coca-Cola 600 in North Carolina.

Even her grandma got behind the wheel. And when Hilda Fedewa wasn’t busy passing the boys on the track, she was buried under the front fender or working on an engine. Her nickname: “The Car Chief.”

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"He was a great guy who loved racing," Jeff Eaton said, sitting with wife Kim Fedewa-Eaton as they talk about friend and Kim's former ex-husband Mark Wilson, Wednesday, June 14, 2017, at their campsite on the infield at Michigan International Speedway. Wilson, a life-long NASCAR fan and former pit crew member died last January from COPD. The two sprinkled some of Wilson's ashes underneath the frontstretch scoring pylon Tuesday, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. They sprinkled the rest at the checkered MIS start-finish line, Wilson's "home-away-from-home."(Photo: MATTHEW DAE SMITH/Lansing State Journal)

“Grandma used to ride on the trailer with the car while my grandpa was driving down the road,” Kim Eaton laughed. “She would be under the hood working on the engine.”

They also used to jump out of hot-air balloons. “

I come from a family of daredevils,” Eaton laughed.

Wearing a green Michigan State shirt and sunglasses, and ice cold Zima in hand, Kim Eaton joked about the amount of times she has made the trip to Brooklyn for this race. She wouldn’t reveal her age, but the Sexton graduate said for at least 20 years, this has been her mid-June destination.

Small plastic Harvick flags whip in the wind and connect to an even bigger No. 4 flag flying high above the one-month-old camper. A black and white checkered flag rug greets guests and friends that the couple have made over the years. A barbecue grill, three full coolers and stacks of wood prove that the weekend ahead will be a long one.

Jeff Eaton and Wilson worked construction together nearly 30 years ago. They both worked hard, liked their beer and the same girl – Kim.

“This was important to me, too,” Jeff Eaton said, leaning forward in his chair and grasping his beer. “He was a partier and loved racing. That’s what he did. He will be a part of our lives forever.”

While spreading Wilson’s ashes Tuesday, Kim Eaton said a gust of wind kicked up down on the track. She laughed and said “I got some of Mark on me.”

“He got you one last time," Marky said.

And in true Wilson fashion, the party isn’t over just yet.

Wilson’s friends and family will gather during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 Sunday afternoon to watch the race on television.

According to the Eatons, every time they show the leaderboard or the start-finish line, they have to take a drink of their favorite beverage in honor of the man who will forever call Brooklyn home.

“I hope they have plenty of beer,” Kim Eaton chuckled. “Do you know how many times they show that on TV? He wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Contact Cody Tucker at (517) 377-1070 or cjtucker@lsj.com and follow him on Twitter @CodyTucker_LSJ.